^20 minutes for a top notch coaster, 40 minutes for a good coaster but with a few flaws, and sometimes over an hour for a lower level coaster. (I try to give more detailed comments and suggestions to the newer designers.)
On a higher rated track, I might make a criticizm like "the pacing started good, but got too slow at the end because everything felt too controlled" because they generally know what I'm talking about. On a lower track, however, I usually elaborate. The same comment may look like "The speed in the first half was good, but it began to slow down a little too much at the end. Try to make your elements in the end smaller and quicker, as this helps to maintain the sensation of speed even though the actual speed is lower. Also, use some more variations of fast turns and hills to make it feel more out-of-control. The key to a good pace is to save some of the coaster's best moments for the very end. This will leave the guests full of adrenaline, and ready to ride again."
Also, the higher rated tracks generally have fewer problems that need mentioning. I spent about 2 minutes basically writing "Technical was almost flawless." for dcs221, where I spent almost an hour writing about all of the technical problems on EElover2's track. (no offense, man...)
ANyway, that's about how long. 20 minutes is the minimum, because i have to ride the coaster a good 3 or 4 times from different seats to judge stuff, check to make sure the contest rules were followed, and fly around to look at the scenery, the supports, and other stuff such as the vertex placement style. Then, I have to figure out what the best parts are, where the problems are, and compare the scores to all the others to make sure that they are as accurate as possible. Also, I am generally writing very long and detailed ratings for this contest. Most of them are almost a page long on MS Word.
That definetly explains why it takes so long. Thanks for taking all the time you do to do this stuff, as people really appreciate the constructive criticism.
^It doesn't explain how long it took me to do the ratings last year, though. It would have taken a while, but that was just laziness. Now I listen to music while I'm rating, so it's much more fun for me. Well, in the last 5 hours of work I have polished off most of the ratings, so I should have them up tomorrow evening. I just sent the round 2 template to WWS, so everything is back on schedule. There won't be a 3-week delay like last year.
Speaking of which, my dinner break was over an hour ago... back to work. I'll update the progress again around midnight.
Yea thanks for taking all that time, and like jakizle said we really appreciate the constructive criticism, except the few people that get pissed if you say their track had a few flaws..lol
3 more ratings have been done in the last 2 hours, and thankfully there were no disqualifications. 18 down, 16 to go. So far, the highest rated track is an 8.83, and the lowest is a 3.67. 4 tracks are over 8, 3 are below 5, 11 are between 5 and 8, and 6 are disqualified.
Well they pretty much have to be released today because Round 2 starts at midnight, or atleast Round 1 did. Just give him some time guys. 34 tracks is alot to rate, especially when he rates them as he does. And its not like he's rating all the time. People have lives other than the internet and coasters lol.
^correct. the "big" showdown last year was suppose to feature tyler and buster...but tyler couldnt finish his track, which was a disappointment because i was looking forward to see those two go at it.
Bad news... more ratings are done, and ANOTHER top track has been disqualified on a trivial technicality. Currently, the 2 highest rated tracks are both DQ'ed, as well as another would-be top 10 track. Be more careful next time, guys!